Course Description:

Physics 2400 Mathematical Methods for the Physical Sciences covers the following basic mathematical tools used in physics: differential operators, complex analysis, ordinary and partial differential equations, integral transforms, asymptotic expansions, and special functions, all with applications to various physics problems. The course introduces Computer Algebra Systems (as analytic calculators) - mathematica, maple, maxima, matlab, and sympy, and encourages the use computerized typesetting (as used by physicists and mathematicians for professional publications).

Lectures:

TuTh 3:30 PM — 4:45 PM in M407, Math Building

Computer Lab:

Physics Computer Lab P122, time to be arranged

Course Webpage:

http://www.phys.uconn.edu/phys2400/

Instructor:

Michael Rozman

email:	rozman@phys.uconn.edu
phone:	860 486 5827
office:	P327, Physics Building
office hours:	TuTh 4:45 PM – 6:00 PM in P122, and/or by appointment

Textbook(s):

• Hung Cheng, Advanced Analytic Methods in Applied Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, Luban Press, 2006
• Sanjoy Mahajan, Street-Fighting Mathematics: The Art of Educated Guessing and Opportunistic Problem Solving, MIT Press, 2010

Communications:

talking in person is the preferred method to contact the instructor; email to mailto:rozman@phys.uconn.edu is the next best option.

• please include the tag “[phys2400]” (without quotes, no spaces) in the subject of your email, e.g. “[phys2400] midterm II retake”
• please no emails larger than 10K without instructor’s explicit permission or request. Use UConn File DropBox https://dropbox.uconn.edu/dropbox or UConn FileLocker http://web2.uconn.edu/filelocker/ for submitting large files

Homework:

Weekly homework assignments

Assignments that are hard to understand are also hard to grade properly, therefore: (a) use words and pictures to supplement your equations; (b) work must progress linearly down the page – recopy solutions that are too nonlinear.

Requirements for acceptable written assignments:

• Use letter-size paper. Use only one side of each sheet.
• Put your name and the assignment number on the top of each page.
• Staple your sheets together. (i.e. no paper clips, torn or folded corners)
• Box your final answer(s).

Highly recommended: make copies of homework assignments for your own files. (A copy machine is in the main physics office. It is available for you for free.)

Honors conversion:

Students interested in honors conversion should contact the instructor during the first week of classes.

Exams:

Two lecture-hour midterm exams and a cumulative final exam

Course project:

may be assigned individually as a partial or full replacement of the final exam

Use of L^AT_EX

is strongly encouraged. Extra points will be assigned for homework prepared in L^AT_EX

Grading scheme:

The course grade will be calculated using the following scheme.

Homework	40%
Midterms	40%
Final exam	20%

This document was translated from L^AT_EX by H^EV^EA.